Sticking with the egg theme for one more blog, this post is the realisation of a long held dream. I first tried out real scotch eggs in a gastro pub in Archway, North London, and it was a revelation of deliciousness. The egg yolk still liquid, the pork carefully seasoned, the breadcrumbs wholemeal, it’s basically gentrification in a nutshell. Or a pork shell. But if you don’t mind your working class snacks poshed up, Scotch eggs are an easy thing to do, and won’t fail to impress the lucky people you share them with.

Boil the eggs. Now, I don’t know if you’re one of these mislead people who think this is easy, but if so, you’re about to learn it’s not. The eggs continue to cook when deep frying later, so if you want a soft yolk you have to be careful. I cooked them for too long, about 6 minutes, so I’d suggest 4-5 minutes is optimal.

Cool and peel the eggs. Mix the herbs, mustard and cornflour into the sausagemeat and give it a good seasoning. Cover the boiled egg in the sausagemeat, making sure there aren’t any holes – and remember sausage shrinks when cooked so you need to cover it pretty thickly to make sure you don’t get patchy scotch eggs.

Dip your sausage coated egg in the eggwash and then into the bowl of breadcrumbs, making sure it’s well covered. Refrigderate for 15 minutes.

Unless you’ve got a deep fat frier, fill a saucepan with groundnut oil – I used the best part of two bottles. Vegetable oil will do. Heat until bubbling round the edges, then in go the eggs. Make sure you turn them a few times to make sure they are cooked all over and crispy. Fry for about 10 minutes.